A Forced Second Choice
by Nina of the Galaxy
Summary: Oliver has to choose: Laurel or Sara. He is dating Sara. He is over Laurel.


Words: 3026

Genre: Angst/Hurt/Comfort  
Status: Done.  
Pairings: Sara/Oliver, Laurel/Oliver 

"Sara?" He bellowed through the arrow cave. "Sara?"

Felicity quirked her eyebrow at him. "She went out after you. Said it was important."

"She did," Oliver said as his voice got lower. "She and I got separated and I told her not to worry and to go back to the Cave because it was dangerous."

"You forget her birthday or something?" Diggle joked. Oliver looked at him with a death glare and he put his hands up, "Look, kid there are a million reasons she could have gone off grid. You know that."

"It was a dangerous situation. And Sara was a liability there."

Diggle and Roy looked between themselves. "What is so dangerous that Sara can't take it? I mean no offense, Oliver, but she seems to beat up people with the same type of skill you do. Sure, you should be so worried? She probably just went somewhere else. I'm sure she'll be back." Roy said to him, spelling out the logic of the situation.

He sighed. Maybe they were right. Sara was fine. Sara could take care of her self. He looked at his watch. Dammit. "I'm late." He cursed. "Keep me updated if she contacts you, understood?" He asked.

"Will do," Felicity said, looking back to her computers.

Diggle knew that look. That was not a good look. "What's going on that you're so late for? And why would you schedule for vigilante time?"

"Laurel. She's getting help. and she wanted to talk to me. And well, she's in a good place now, I don't want to disappoint her."

Ah, Laurel. That boy. "So that blind spot back?" He asked Oliver, making sure that the other man knew what he was up against.

"I'm dating Sara now. Laurel and I are over. But she's my friend and I should support her through this." Oliver told Diggle. He couldn't let Laurel become his weak spot and he hadn't. Putting some space between them had been the best thing he'd done in a long time. He was allowing himself to be happy. You need to fix it because you didn't leave her in the best position last time, he reasoned with himself though . "I promise, there is no blind spot with Laurel, but I do need to get to her. I've been a pretty shitty friend to her and she could use my help through this process."

Diggle nodded to him, "Okay, Man. Just don't take it too harshly."

"I promise, I won't." He said, picking up his keys to the Bike. When he didn't go with Diggle, it was always the Bike.

Traffic was ridiculous and he wished that he had gotten out on time. If Sara hadn't gone missing, he probably would have, but she was putting herself before everyone else. He understood why she did, but she had to realize how much strain that put on everyone else.

He parked his bike in front of Laurel's building and took his helmet off. Her lights were all on which is strange. That wasn't a Laurel thing to do. Laurel liked to keep only one light on if she could. Even better for her was candlelight. She loved candles. He bought her a basket of them every year for Christmas. Or he had. Did? He didn't even know what they were going to do for Christmas this year. If they would even exchange presents. They hadn't since Tommy.

He buzzed her apartment and she didn't answer. Weird. Maybe she was in the shower or something. Or sleeping. Because now he was really late.

He buzzed everyone in the building. And someone recognized him enough to buzz him in. Thank god. He needed to talk to Laurel. Apologize for that crazy speech.

He took the elevator up to her third floor apartment, annoyed by the musack, but this is what they played in elevators. It was supposed to be calming, but it really felt fake. It was supposed to be island sounds. But he knew that was not what Islands sounded like at all. Not even a little bit. Or at least the ones he knew.

The elevator parted the doors and he went down the hall and turned left, only to find apartment 305 with the door wide open and it looked like there had been a scuffle.

"Shit," He said as he rushed in, but he found exactly what he thought. No Laurel. Dammit, he was supposed to protect her. Staying away from her was supposed to protect her from herself, but not get her caught by other people when he couldn't help her. He called Felicity. "Laurel, she's missing. Please tell me you can find her,"

"Slow your roll, Spiderman. Laurel's missing? But I thought you were supposed to be with her." Felicity said, and he could hear the tapping of the keys while she tried to figure out where Laurel was.

How could he have been stupid? Why did he say all of those things? She could be dead and the last thing she would have heard from him was that he stopped caring for her. His best friend in the whole world. "Yeah, I was supposed to be with her. But she's not her. And it doesn't look like she went without a fight, but she's not here."

"Can you facetime me?" Felicity asked.

He looked at the phone and saw a button for that, "Yeah, but what good would that do?" He questioned her. This was about finding Laurel.

"Look, I ask you again, do I question how you sharpen your arrows? Do you trust me?"

He sighed. He did trust her. He just needed to find Laurel and make sure that everything was okay, so he did it. "Okay, what now?" He asked.

"Switch cameras and show me around the apartment. I want something a little more distinctive, something that might tell me who took her and where they might go. So you can catch the bad guy." She babbled. When it was clear she wasn't getting to him, she heaved a sigh, "Switch cameras and show me around the apartment, look for clues,"

He followed her instructions and switched the cameras and looked through the mess that had been left behind with his phone as her eyes and ears. He didn't see how this was going to get them any closer to where they were going, but he saw her looking hard at the camera, clearly trying to figure it out.

They did this for about five minutes before Oliver started getting angry. He didn't see anything that would help them. This was pointless. Didn't she see that? He couldn't do this without going crazy thinking about what was happening to Laurel. "This isn't helping Felicity,"

"Just give me one more minute," Felicity said, licking her lip, "I think I might have something there, point it toward her couch again." She said.

He did as asked, but he was about to just say fuck it and look on his own. "Oliver?" Roy's voice.

"What?" Oliver gritted through his teeth.

Roy looked to Diggle who nodded and he couldn't tell what was happening, but Diggle reassuring Roy wasn't good. "Um, we got a call from Sara. We know where she is. And you're not gonna like it."

He rolled his eyes. He didn't like anything about tonight. "Just tell me, Roy,"

"She's with Slade. And it sounds like he has Laurel too. At the old abandoned warehouse on forty-second." He said, giving the information that he could gain off the cell phone.

Sara and Laurel. He'd kidnapped them. Which meant that Salde was baiting him, but he didn't know about what. He breathed a heavy breathe for a moment. "Thank you, Roy. Sit tight," He told them all and turned off the phone.

He had to go save the Lance girls.

He opened and closed Laurel's fire escape window and went down to his bike that way. That elevator would just annoy him if he got in it again.

He sped to Verdant to pick up his bow and hood and then it was down to forty-second, which seemed like it took no time at all from Verdant. Possibly because he had looked down at his gauge and was clocking at about 120. Sara and Laurel stood less of a chance with him not there and there was a very real idea that both of them could die tonight because he was stupid enough to put them both in danger.

He burst through the door of the warehouse with his bow posture, ready to put an arrow in someone who came near him. "Ah, Oliver, so glad you could join us," Slade said with a shit eating grin on his face.

"What do you want, Slade?" He asked, voice gruff, no modulator. That was a liability with Laurel around, but fuck, she was crying and whimpering and he understood why.

Slade just laughed. "Well, Oliver Queen, I want to make you suffer. And everyone knows there's nothing you love more than the Lance sisters. Not even that foxy little minx of an IT Girl you have."

"Oliver," Laurel said, broken voice, tears streaked her face, hyperventilating, but she looked up to him. And she was so broken. He always put her in this position and there was nothing he hated more than to see her damseled by people who were trying to get to him. She looked up to Slade, "Please don't kill me" She pleaded.

Slade looked at her like she was a cat who had done something cute, "Oh, sweetheart, I won't choose to kill you, but he might," Slade smirked as he cocked his gun and stood between them. "Oliver," His voice commanded authority. "You must choose one to save. Your girlfriend," He said, putting the gun at Sara's head. "Or," He switched it over to Laurel, "Her sister. You have thirty seconds, before I kill them both."

He looked between them. They were both clearly roughed up. They both looked like they had been dragged by their hair into this mess. It should be easy to look between them and see a sign the he could get them both out. "Slade, you don't have to do this," Sara said, crying as the gun cocked at her head. "Shado, she wouldn't have wanted this. She wouldn't want you to put Oliver in the same situation." She cried.

"Shado isn't here. She is owed nothing." He said, keeping the gun on her, "10 seconds," Slade glared at Oliver.

"Oliver just let me die," Laurel said, crying out. "Just live. Be happy. You're happy now."

He could tell that this was his Laurel. The Laurel he loved. And there it was deep down in his chest. He loved Laurel. He wanted to protect her. But he couldn't let her sister come back just to die on her. She'd been doing so well. And there was no easy way to get out of this situation. But still he tried to understand.

He looked between them. He hung his head in shame. "Don't go down the same path Ivo did. History made its judgement. See where it got him. Don't exactly see him around her." Oliver tried once more to reason with him. The gun was pointed at Laurel's head now and he couldn't stand the sight of that.

"Indeed it did and his contribution to society was worth more than his life. Have to admire a man with that kind of scruples," Slade chuckled and the then stopped, "five seconds," He said and he pointed the gun at Sara again.

Just like last time, he lowered his bow and went to protect Sara. It was the right choice and Slade just smiled. "You know, I sort of admire that kind of consistency, Queen. At least, you're willing to give up all others for her," And he realized what he'd done.

Laurel was about to be shot. He cocked the gun. "Say goodbye, sweetheart," He said to Laurel and Oliver lunged for it, but got held back by Sara. He made the wrong choice. He knew it now. He'd been more worried about Laurel this entire time and yet he chose to save Sara again. And for what? Because he got duped again? Stupid stupid stupid.

He closed his eyes so he didn't have to see yet another woman he loved die because he couldn't make a decision right. He felt his heart break and go to stone in that moment. There would be no more Laurel in the world. He couldn't take it. He couldn't see it. He heard no gunshot though and it had taken a long time. Slade like efficiency if nothing else.

Instead, he heard something whip around and he opened his eyes. It was Laurel. She grabbed Slade's wrists and knocked the gun out of his hands.

Slade grabbed her though, from behind and she wiggled unable to get free. "Well, looks like we got a little bit of a fighter in this one. I will truly enjoy breaking her in front of you," He told Oliver.

"Go to hell," She yelled back at him.

He shook his head, "Darling, you wouldn't know the first place about hell. I've been there."

This was his undoing though, letting her a little bit of leeway as she elbowed him in the stomach, which only just lowered her enough to step on his instep. She took a fist to his nose and his groin. Which would have been enough for most guys. They would have been doubled over on the floor, but where Slade was feeling pain it was only enough to get back to the gun and cock it. "You won't kill me, you're like him. Too much of a goodie two shoes, baby" He said.

"I'm not your baby." She said and shot him in the shoulder once. Then again in the leg. once more.

Oliver ran up to her and put her in his arms. "Laurel. Oh my god, Laurel are you okay?" He said, looking her up and down looking for something in her eyes.

"I'm fine," She said and looked in his eyes and put her hands on his face and she looked a little relieved.

"Oliver. I'm so sorry. I only ever wanted you to be happy. I never wanted you to have to pick." Sara said, trying to explain herself. "You shouldn't have had to go through this..."

He put his hand up to her. "You didn't do what I asked. I asked you to go back to the Cave. I told you it wasn't safe. And your sister was willing to die for you, Sara."

"Look, Oliver I didn't ask to be part of this." She yelled at him.

He puffed out his chest, "But you were willing to let her die for you, Sara. You know why you're not easy to kill, because you put you before everyone else. That's why."

"Oliver if you're saying what I think you're saying, come out and just say it. Don't pussyfoot around it."

"I think," He looked her straight in the eye, "That you knew something like this was going to come about and you did nothing about it. You defied orders because you thought I was stupid for protecting you. You made me late. You have gotten in the way every time I even got close to Laurel. I think you wanted her out of the picture. Permanently."

"Slade's a crazy person. How the fuck could I know that'd he'd want to recreate the past?" She asked him, hotly.

"Because Shado is his biggest regret. And you brought it up." Oliver scolded. "I could have talked him down, but you had to open that pandora's box,"

She laughed sadly, "It's always gonna be her. Everyone. it's gonna be her. You compare me to her. Don't say it's not true," Sara said when she saw him trying to refute that claim. "And when you heard she was getting better, that's all you wanted to talk about when we weren't fighting crime. So yeah, do you blame me for wanting her out of the picture?"

"I don't just talk about Laurel," He said and he looked to Laurel and then looked back to Sara. He could feel the lightness in his heart, looking at Laurel safe and sound.

She shook her head. "Oliver, stop kidding yourself. It was always about her. You went after me, because I was her but impulsive. You're not over her. Admit it," She was tired of fighting it.

"She..she...yes," He sighed and looked at the ground. He looked to Laurel. It was definitely her. And it took almost losing her to figure that out. Absence shows you the value. "I love her Sara."

"It's more than that. But I should let you guys figure that out." She told him as she drug Slade out, "Go. You guys have a lot to talk about."

Laurel's hand found his and he looked into her eyes and saw a lot more than he bargained for. Laurel was his only love. Laurel was his link to the past. She was his reason off the island. She was his everything and on an impulse he almost lost her. He would spend a lifetime making up for that. His arms went around her, "You're safe," He whispered to her hair. "We're gonna be fine,"

"Take me home?" She asked him.

He nodded and saw that she had no shoes on. She really had been taken from her apartment and with no care. "Yeah," He answered, picking up his phone. "Diggle, could you bring the car to forty-first? Just it's a long story. But their both safe," He said and clicked off the phone.

He put the bow around his chest and picked her up bridal style. "I'm so sorry, I almost let you die." He confessed.

"Seeing you so broken made it easier to fight. I was willing to die to make you happy, but you weren't."

He shook his head and grinned. "You dead will never make me happy,"


End file.
